HP DeskJet (Original, 1988)

What the HP DeskJet was

The HP DeskJet was a thermal-inkjet printer introduced by Hewlett-Packard in 1988 under the product number 2276A. It printed black text and graphics on plain paper at 300 dots per inch and about two pages per minute, drawing cut sheets from a built-in paper feeder. The HP Computer Museum records a launch price of US$995, while HP's own virtual museum describes the introductory price as 'about $1,000.' It was the first product in what became HP's long-running DeskJet family.

Significance: HP's first mass-market inkjet

HP's virtual museum describes the DeskJet as 'the first mass-market inkjet printer' and, at about US$1,000, 'the least expensive non-impact printer on the market at the time it was introduced.' The DeskJet was not, however, HP's first inkjet product: HP began shipping thermal-inkjet printers with the HP ThinkJet in 1984. What the DeskJet added was 300 dpi output on ordinary paper — the HP Computer Museum characterises this as 'laser quality' at 'less than half the cost of a laser printer' — bringing near-laser text within reach of home and small-office buyers. HP's team gave the project the internal codename 'Voodoo,' per the HP Computer Museum.

Thermal inkjet and the disposable-printhead cartridge

Like other inkjet printers, the DeskJet formed characters by firing tiny drops of ink from nozzles onto the page; in HP's thermal-inkjet approach, each nozzle briefly heats the ink to eject a droplet on demand. HP's most consequential design choice, according to its virtual museum, was building an inexpensive, disposable printhead directly into the ink cartridge, so the wear-prone nozzles were renewed with every cartridge — an arrangement HP credits with keeping print quality consistent over the life of the printer. The original model used pigment black ink for letter-quality monochrome output, per HP's DeskJet anniversary history. The underlying mechanism is described in the thermal inkjet printing and inkjet printhead references.

Documented specifications

Authoritative records agree on the core figures: 300 dpi black resolution, about two pages per minute, thermal-inkjet printing on plain paper from a built-in cut-sheet feeder, and a US$995 launch price under product number 2276A. Figures that cannot be traced to an authoritative source — such as onboard memory and the host interface — are omitted here rather than estimated.

Limitations recorded at the time

The DeskJet's plain-paper output was a compromise. The HP Computer Museum notes that print quality looked 'fuzzy' next to a true laser printer, that the unit was physically large, and that its ink was not waterfast and could smear when exposed to moisture. The museum also observes that the DeskJet was comparatively expensive to operate against impact printers of the era. These trade-offs are recorded here as documented history, not as a current product assessment.

Place in printing history

The DeskJet sat between two landmark HP machines: the 1984 HP ThinkJet, HP's first thermal-inkjet printer, and the 1984 HP LaserJet, documented as its first desktop laser printer. By delivering laser-like 300 dpi text from an inkjet at a far lower price, the DeskJet opened inkjet printing to mainstream buyers and launched a product line that ran for decades. HP followed it with the DeskJet Plus in 1989 and — as the HP Computer Museum notes — reused the original boxy industrial design across later DeskJet 500-series models. Colour capability arrived on later DeskJets in the 1990s.

Reference scope

This model page records only facts that can be traced to an authoritative source — HP's virtual museum, the HP Computer Museum, HP's DeskJet anniversary history, and encyclopedic reference. Any specification that cannot be sourced is omitted rather than estimated. It is not a buying guide and quotes no current pricing or availability; historical prices are given as documented launch figures. The sources consulted are listed below.